In one of my current WIP (Vampire Killer #02), there's a scene where the MCs are fighting a vampire, and their holy water gets wasted, so MC #1 goes to the fridge, gets out a flavored malt beverage (a "wine cooler" without actual wine), pours it on the vamp, and sets him on fire. He'll then burst into flames and get destroyed. How plausible is this? These drinks are typically around 11.2 fluid ounces, 3.2% of which is alcohol. Would that be enough, or would she need something stronger?

If she's got time to get to the fridge, then I have to assume fang-face is incapacitated. Why not just set his clothes on fire? Otherwise, she'll need to grab hard liquor or some sort of flammable cleaner from under the sink.

Historical note. The term 'proof' developed to prove that there was booze in something. I think 80 proof is about where you get certainty of fire. In ye olde days, folks would try to light things on fire to prove that there was alcohol in it, if it lit that was proof.

I don't know if you can work it in but pure methanol burns without a flame, so maybe your MC grabs a bottle of mentholated spirits. At the very least it would be fun trying to describe the vampire burning alive without any visible fire.

I'm not sure - I've tried to set fire to tequila a couple of times and it didn't take (don't ask, student days).

I think you're better off with something like drain cleaner, aerosols like furniture polish or deordorant would work too - like a mini flame thrower, but the risk of burning yourself is quite high. As others have said, meths works well too.

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Another p[roblem with using alcohol is that alcohol flame is not very hot. Even if you used 151 rum, the vampire might just have some burned hair and clothes (clothes might just get cleaned instead). Petroleum distillates are much better for burning things.

A wooden spoon through the heart would be more likely to kill a vampire.

I don't know how well vampires burn. But humans don't burn very well. A gallon of gas, lighter fluid, et cetera, are not likely to cause immediate death, although the prognosis for ultimate survival would not be high. You're looking at gallons (plural) of gasoline to result in definite death within minutes. And people have been known to run while totally engulfed in flames. Human skin is a good insulator of heat and for quick death, you need to raise core temperature significantly.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

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Thanks for the responses, everyone! I think I'm gonna go with the can of Pam (or I might say "cooking spray" to avoid any potential legal problems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thothguard51

Vampire...wooden spatula through the heart...

Hehe. The problem with that is my series is sticking closer to actual vampire mythology, and I've read that wooden stakes merely serve to hold the vampire in place, and you have to kill them via another method.

That is semicorrect. The stake has a both literal and symbolic function. Since vampires are magic, the symbolic is just as important, as magic is all about symbolism.

The preferred method of actually killing the vampire is decapitation. apparently both are necessary. Perhaps the body could retrieve the head if not nailed down. I've never read that, but it seems to follow.

Well, if she's desperate enough to do something really stupid, she could grab ammonia and bleach from under the sink and douse the guy. You'll end up creating Hydrochloric acid on the surface of his skin (highly corrosive), but it will also make a highly toxic gas, so she'd have to get out of the room really fast and hold her breath.

Another consideration is that anything aerosol - cooking spray included - can be used to make a fire sprayer if she holds a lighter in the stream. Just make sure she lets go of the lighter before she lets go of the sprayer.

If you're going old school, then consider the toxicity of silver to vampires. Heirloom dinnerware, maybe granny's silver serving set, will have pure silver knives in them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarpedon

That is semicorrect. The stake has a both literal and symbolic function. Since vampires are magic, the symbolic is just as important, as magic is all about symbolism.

The preferred method of actually killing the vampire is decapitation. apparently both are necessary. Perhaps the body could retrieve the head if not nailed down. I've never read that, but it seems to follow.

It's not actually. Vampires as "magic" isn't part of the older lore at all. Vampires were bodies without spirits (which is why they cast no reflection). In other cultures, they're other things/

The decapitation part came along somewhere around the dark ages, as did the idea of the stake (read up on Dom. Augustin Calmet and his treatises involving the story of a supposed vampire who thanked him for the stake in the heart as it gave him something to beat the dogs off his grave with). In those instances, even decap. wasn't enough - you had to fill the mouth and neck with garlic and bury the body in a lead-lined coffin.

By 'magic' I meant supernatural. Manipulating the supernatural is called 'magic,' and yes, it does involve symbolism. Vampires are repelled by crosses, which are symbols.

Frankly, the idea that there is some kind of authoritative canon for this sort of thing is a bit silly. An author can pick or choose which legends or popular beliefs he or she wishes, or make them up. I was merely remarking on the universality of belief in the use of symbols to perform magic.

Silver was considered a blood cleansing agent. Any "evil" said to be tied to or carried in the blood was thought to be cured, killed or repelled by silver. It's also tied to Romanian legends/beliefs in the mystical power of "pure" metals and has been a part of the lore from eastern Europe for centuries.

ETA -- I may be wrong about this one, but IIRC, the caveat about the cross hurting a vampire was that it had to be one made of pure silver. Over time, that part of the myth eroded. (i.e. -- it was the cross that repelled the vampire, but the silver that burned it.)